Objective: To understand how parental influences on dairy food intake relate to early adolescent children's use of calcium-fortified food. Design: Content analysis of qualitative interviews to identify parental influences on dairy intake; calcium-fortified food survey to identify children as either calcium-fortified food users or nonusers. Setting…

This research is an examination of the effects of racial discrimination and health-promoting behaviors on the physical and mental health of a sample of 399 well-educated African American men. One would think that the attainment of higher education would increase health-promoting behaviors and might decrease discriminatory experiences that impact…

For those with disabilities, issues of health are often treated in a reactionary way. This article encourages health literacy, education, and awareness targeted towards those with disabilities in helping them take ownership of their plan for staying healthy, with a focus on weight management. Weight management challenges for people with…

Research on pregnancy and sexual health among homeless youth is limited. In this study, qualitative interviews were conducted with 41 homeless young injection drug users (IDUs) in Los Angeles with a history of pregnancy. The relationship between recent pregnancy outcomes, contraception practices, housing status, substance use, utilization of…

Unhealthy coping mechanisms become more widely available to young people during their teenage years. Students frequently choose these unhealthy activities as avenues for dealing with the stress of physical and social changes that confront them during adolescence. For these reasons, a need exists for intervention programs that teach adolescents to…

The vast majority of college students gamble, with some doing so problematically. This article discusses gambling and problem gambling among college students, framing it as an emerging health issue on college campuses nationwide. Given that 4 out of 5 college students admit to gambling, and that approximately 8% gamble problematically, it is…

Theater has been used as an educational tool since the Great Depression era, and it is currently considered an effective tool for health promotion and reducing risk-taking behaviors among youth. Theater projects are well suited for communicating prevention messages to youth audiences because they can depict real-life settings and characters who…

Health education researchers have called for research articles in health education to adhere to the recommendations of American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association regarding the reporting and use of effect sizes and confidence intervals (CIs). This article expands on the recommendations by (a) providing an overview of…

Liliana Escobar-Chaves and Craig Anderson investigate two important trends among American youth and examine the extent to which the two trends might be related. First, the authors note that U.S. youth are spending increasing amounts of time using electronic media, with the average American youngster now spending one-third of each day with some…

Objective, Participants, and Methods: In this study, the authors explored the psychometric properties of the Hooked on Nicotine Checklist (HONC) among 300 college students who were current smokers. The HONC is a 10-item survey instrument designed to measure diminished autonomy over smoking, a key aspect of dependence. Autonomy is diminished when…

We conducted a qualitative analysis of 148 college students' written comments about themselves as sexual decision makers. Most participants described experiences in which they were actively engaged in decision-making processes of "waiting it out" to "working it out." The four patterns were (a) I am in control, (b) I am experimenting and learning,…

Policy and practice on sex and relationships education (SRE) in England often has the stated objectives of delaying sexual activity, reducing sexually transmitted infections and lowering rates of teenage conception. Underlying these objectives is the desire to support young people in making "informed choices" and developing the skills…

This article introduces the Major Contribution on integrating health and vocational psychology, using persons with HIV who have work-related concerns as an example. The authors describe the demographics associated with HIV disease and new treatments that have allowed people with HIV to remain healthy and continue working, or consider returning to…

Objective: The authors assessed the knowledge, beliefs about, and practices of vaginal douching among women attending 2 universities in the southeastern United States. Participants: There were 416 participants in this study; 46.9% were black and 44.5% were white. Methods: The authors administered a 30-item questionnaire to women enrolled in…

Objective and Participants: The authors designed this cross-sectional study to examine sports team differences in hazardous alcohol use and drinking game participation, as well as the social correlates of these behaviors among female college athletes (N=176; M age=19.9 years, SD=1.24, range=18-22). Methods: Respondents completed self-report…